The 5 Best Irish Bars in NYC

It’s no wonder that the Irish pub is such a popular global export—the trifecta of hearty fare, good craic, and frothy pints of stout is pretty much unstoppable. The origins of the Irish pub in New York can be traced to the Great Famine of the 1840s in Ireland, when thousands of Irish men and women came to America to start a new life. They founded public houses inspired by the kind they frequented back home, and used them as social hubs.

There’s still a wealth of Irish bars in NYC—from storied establishments dating back to the late 19th century, to new cocktail bars influenced by the history Irish culture in NYC. There are also many bars posing as Irish pubs, filled with obnoxious mooks and paper shamrocks and leprechauns. We’ve highlighted some bars across the boroughs that bring a true taste of the Emerald Isle to NYC, so you can avoid the frat-traps and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day the right way.

Dead Rabbit

Address and phone: 30 Water St (646-422-7906)
Website:deadrabbitnyc.comGood for: Traveling back in time, getting reacquainted with Irish whiskey
From its location along a historical corridor of the Financial District, to its 1850s gang namesake and encyclopedic menu (seriously, you could spend several visits just reading through it), the Dead Rabbit feels like its own fully formed world. The sawdust scattered over the first floor sets the scene for a raucous tavern vibe, while the antique fixtures in the parlor upstairs are matched by some of the city's most intriguing cocktails, organized in old-fashioned categories like flips, bishops, and cobblers. The upstairs Parlor Room recently rolled out a new menu featuring 35 Irish whiskey-powered drinks, including the complex Thunderbolt, made with Powers John's Lane Release whiskey, ginger, banana, allspice, chocolate, and Orinoco Bitters. If you need to keep your sea legs, soak up the booze with an excellent no-frills burger, as well as real-deal Scotch eggs and sausage rolls.
Order this: Beers in the downstairs tavern, Thunderbolt cocktail upstairs, burger, fish and chips, Scotch egg, sausage roll

Molly's Pub and Shebeen

Address and phone: 287 3rd Ave (212-889-3361)
Website:mollysshebeen.comGood for: Boozing in a warm, convivial atmosphere
Molly's bills itself as "the most traditional Irish bar in NYC." We can't say for sure, but we do know the sawdust-covered floor, to-the-point Irish waitresses, and brick fireplace come together to form one hell of a pub. Start your night off with a pint of Murphy's Stout, County Cork's creamy answer to Guinness, or choose from the dozen whiskeys on hand. Then get to grubbing: Molly's 10-ounce burger is a juicy, messy behemoth that we'd come back for time and time again. If you want to stick with the Gaelic theme, opt for the shepherd's pie—the ultimate Emerald Isle comfort food, built here with savory ground beef and thick mashed potatoes.
Order this: Murphy's stout, burger, chicken potpie, shepherd's pie, fish and chips

An Beal Bocht

Address and phone: 445 W 238th St, Riverdale, Bronx (718-884-7127)
Website:anbealbochtcafe.comGood for: Brunch, live music, reading James Joyce with a pint of Guinness
A lynchpin of the Bronx neighborhood known as Little Dublin, An Beal Bocht is as much community center as pub, with flyers plastering the walls and frequent jam sessions featuring Irish folk musicians. With welcoming bartenders and light streaming in through huge windows, it's a good place for day-drinking—crack open a dusty copy of Ulysses, order a pint, and steady yourself with one of the best full-Irish breakfasts in the five boroughs. The messy loft above the barroom and old newspaper clippings on the walls make you feel like you're drinking in someone's living room, which is exactly how you should feel at a proper Irish pub. If you go for brunch, don't be surprised if you end up making some new friends and staying into the wee hours.
Order this: Full-Irish breakfast, bangers and mash, well-poured pints of Guinness

Donovans

Address and phone: 57-24 Roosevelt Ave, Woodside, Queens (718-429-9339)
Website:donovansny.comGood for: Old-school Irish bonhomie, the burger
If you're looking for a proper pub crawl, take the 7 train out to Woodside, the longtime stronghold of Irish culture in Queens, where you can still find barmen with brogues as thick as the head on a pint of Guinness. While we like drinking at pubs like Gaslight, Saints & Sinners, and Cuckoo's Nest, the true gem of the neighborhood is Donovan's, a New York classic that's been standing on the same quiet, residential corner since 1966. From the Tudor-style facade to the cozy, dimly-let rooms and old-timers swapping bantering at the front bar, it's got the type of trapped-in-time feel that's tough to find these days. Even the famed burger is willfully out-of-step with today's haute patties: just a half pound of charbroiled, honest-to-goodness beef (ground New York strip gives it some oomph), draped with American cheese on a sesame-seed bun.
Order this: Burger, baked clams, Guinness

Grace

Address and phone: 365 Third Avenue (646-918-6553)
Website:gracebarnyc.comGood for: Cocktails, above-average pub grub
The stereotype of Irish pubs populated by old men drinking beer gets flipped on its head at Grace, which updates the formula with a cocktail list created by an all-star team of the city's best female bartenders. Talent like Ivy Mix (Clover Club) and Meaghan Dorman (Raines Law Room) contributed drinks to the historically oriented menu, which offers respite for drinkers whose idea of a good night out doesn't involve eight pints of Guinness. Fittingly, the low-lit decor—which pays homage to the bar's patron saint, the "Pirate Queen" of 16th-century Irish lore—and the food are also more refined than anything you'd find at your average corner boozer; in addition to solid standards like fish and chips, snack on bite-size lamb meatballs served with tzatziki, and spinach-and-artichoke dip fancied-up with lumps of crap.
Order this:Belclare (cognac, grapefruit liqueur, creme de cacao, absinthe, lemon juice); Black Tom (rum, oloroso sherry, ginger liqueur, date molasses, lime juice); crispy lamb meatballs; spinach, crab, and artichoke dip